What Prospective Employers Are Looking for in the Healthcare / Hospital Executives that They Hire

Hospital executives have it easy when looking for jobs. Compared to other industries, hospital executives can expect to see a 22 percent growth between 2010 and 2020, with 303,000 jobs existing in 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This doesn't mean that prospective job-seekers can just waltz into an interview and expect success, however--no one likes an arrogant job-seeker--and there are several things health executives will want to keep in mind.

Compassion and Empathy

Prospective employers do want to know that hospital executives actually want to work in healthcare. Anyone can learn organizational skills, but it's a refreshing thing when someone has experience managing doctors, nurses, and allied healthcare workers in a way that understands their needs and focuses on quality patient care. Employers want the numbers--no mistake--and they want to see that job-seekers have numerically increased efficiency or earnings in the past, but nothing will compensate for an emphasis on quality care.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists interpersonal skills and communication skills among the top qualities of a successful health service manager, and the defining mark that affects both of those skill-sets is a deep empathetic compassion for both the servers and the served. A study on the interpersonal qualities of powerful healthcare executives found that one of the most difficult attributes for hospital executives to achieve was the ability to read and empathize other people's emotions, so that ability will right away put a healthcare job-seeker on the uniqueness radar.

Technological Ability

Technical skills--including the ability to use coding software and health record systems--matter to employers, according to the BLS. That's the average requirement: a strong healthcare executive job-seeker will go beyond just the requirement and be a pioneer of technology, someone who's innovated his or her clinic or hospital in the past by implementing new leading-edge hardware or software that made patient care easier. The hospital executive job-seeker should look for ways in which he or she has brought innovative technology to his or her facility, rather than just trying to meet minimum requirements for computer literacy.

Detailed Problem-solving

The BLS lists problem-solving and detail orientation at the top of the required abilities for hospital executives. Why? Bad things happen in hospitals. Sometimes the power goes out; sometimes the billing department fails; sometimes a small malpractice suit becomes public and threatens hospital reputation; and sometimes it's just tough to get a whole bunch of different personalities to cooperate effectively. Sometimes the solutions are in the details, and sometimes they're in the big picture, so an effective executive can both look at the goals and innovations for the future of the hospital, while making sure that the small legalities of billing and interpersonal conflict work out.

If prospective job-seekers incorporate these principles into resumes, interviews, and cover letters, they demonstrate to employers that they can increase revenues and patient satisfaction. That, combined with the obvious necessity of management experience and executive education, should put prospective job-seekers at the top of the employment opportunity stack. As we all know, the stack resolves from the top--so happy job-hunting!